Gaga goes jazz

There's Lady Gaga: the 28-year-old pop singer with the eye-popping outfits and more than a few electrodance hits under her belt. Then there's Tony Bennett, the 88-year-old singer, entertainer and music legend, who has been on stage for nearly 70 years.

In 2008, Lady Gaga became world famous almost overnight with her track "Poker Face" - racing to the top of the charts with it and "Just Dance" in the US, Great Britain and Germany. She's racked up her share of accolades, including Grammy Awards.

Tony Bennett has racked up 17 of the same awards: For worldwide hits like "I Left My Heart in San Francisco;" for his jazz and swing albums; for his collaboration with the jazz pianist Bill Evans; and for his tribute albums to jazz greats such as Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. In the 50s and 60s, he scored one Top 40 hit after another, many of which went to Number One.

How exactly did it come about that the offbeat young superstar with 42 million Twitter followers got together to work with the singing gentleman with more than 50 million records sold?

It's hardly a mere coincidence. Nearing 90, Tony Bennett has shown a predilection for teaming up with younger colleagues. He has put out two different duets albums, recording the first in 2006 with musicians such as Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Barbra Streisand. On "Duets 2" (2011), he teamed up with even younger talents like Norah Jones, Amy Winehouse and Lady Gaga - whom he immediately found inspiring.

Rooted in jazz

Dedicated fans have long known that the Lady can do more than jump around in crazy clothes on stage and in her videos. On YouTube, there are any number of videos showing Stefani Germanotta, as she's known off stage, sitting at the piano and delivering powerful, self-written pop ballads.

She was once one of countless other young hopefuls in New York, looking to make a living with music. Germanotta pulled it off by creating the Lady Gaga persona, which has ultimately come to supercede her singing and songwriting in the public eye.

"I was a jazz singer since I was a little girl, and nobody had really picked up on it. So, when Tony asked, I got really excited," said Lady Gaga, clapping Bennett on the shoulder in a joint CBS interview with her grandfatherly friend. The two really do look a bit like grandfather and granddaughter - who like to tease each other, but whose mutual affection and respect is evident.

The two happily relate how many commonalities they have: love of music, painting and their hometown New York. They also share, as children of immigrants, an Italian background.

Symbiosis

After her third album "Artpop" flopped, Lady Gaga had hit a low point. She says she was burned out musically, had gone through a difficult breakup and wasn't in the mood for making music - until Tony Bennett's offer came along.

"I can't tell you how happy singing this music makes me," she said in the CBS interview, adding with tears in her eyes that Tony saved her life. The crooner responds by saying he can't understand why she has been sticking just with pop music for so long.

For his 88th birthday, Lady Gaga chartered a plane with a banner congratulating the seasoned singer. The gesture touched him, he said: "She has such a taste in making wonderful things happen."

Now the album "Cheek to Cheek" is out, featuring 11 not entirely surprising songs from the Great American Songbook. They're tunes that have been interpreted by all of the great performers: Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Dean Martin, Sarah Vaughan, and the list goes on.

Refreshing approach

With opening title "Anything Goes," the duo sends a clear message right from the start. There's proper big band sound, Tony Bennett's still powerful voice and, topping it off, an agile and good-humored Lady Gaga - refreshingly without the electro stylings that helped make her famous.

That's how the very listenable album plays out. Everything is arranged, orchestrated and recorded in an appealing way. Sometimes, however, it gets a bit too saccharine when the two sing together in duets. And occasionally, it would be nice to hear Lady Gaga singing in a lower key. It's not that she's not up to the task with the higher range, but the alternative would be a bit more pleasant.

Gaga's singing is crystal clear, though, and sometimes she even breaks into soul - a good move. Her solo on Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life" is great, and it's apparent that her cheerful, youthful demeanor inspires Tony Bennett and helps drive the songs.

Tony Bennett himself sings like he always has. At times, he has to push himself to deliver the powerful syllables in songs like "Anything Goes," but otherwise the legendary crooner has lost none of his energy. However, if he had put out this album alone, only the most die-hard fans would have been likely to pick it up.

"Cheek to Cheek" is an album that has been done hundreds of times before Gaga and Bennett's rendition. Ultimately, however, it's Lady Gaga that rescues the songs - with her audible joy in making this music.